The 2021 Austin FC season was the club's inaugural season in Major League Soccer, the top flight of soccer in the United States. This was also the first season a top-tier sports franchise is playing in the Greater Austin region.
With MLS experiencing close to $1 billion in loses for the 2020 season and another expected $1 billion loses in 2021 season related to COVID-19 restrictions, the MLS and MLSPA CBA talks pushed two weeks later then planned. This delayed the start of the 2021 season to April 17, 2021, about a month and a half later than normal, and concluded on November 7, 2021. Outside of MLS, Austin FC would have competed in the 2021 U.S. Open Cup, but that competition was postponed indefinitely in April before being canceled in July.
Austin FC won their first match on April 24, 2021 in Commerce City, CO against the Colorado Rapids 3-1, where midfielder Diego Fagundez scored the club's first ever goal. They played their first game in Austin on June 19, 2021 in front of 20,738 fans, a 0-0 draw against the San Jose Earthquakes. Austin won their first home game against the Portland Timbers 4-1 on July 1, 2021, a match which Austin FC winger Jon Gallagher scored the first ever MLS goal at Q2 Stadium.
Austin FC struggled in their inaugural campaign despite selling out all their home games. They finished 12th in the Western Conference with 9 wins, 4 draws, and 21 losses. Alexander Ring served as captain, and both Cecilio Dominguez and Diego Fagundez led the club with 7 goals.
Preseason
Austin FC started their first season by building their roster with their first ever signing, Rodney Redes, on July 6, 2020. The club continued to build their squad by signing their first Designated Player, Cecilio Dominguez, on August 24, 2020. Austin FC continued to build on Dec 13, 2020 by trading for five more players using General Allocation Money. On Dec 15, 2020, the club obtained five more players through the 2021 MLS Expansion Draft. By the end of the year, Austin FC added five more players to the roster. Austin FC started 2021 by adding seven more players to the team, including its second Designated Player, Tomás Pochettino. On April 16, 2021, the day before the club's first competitive game they added two more players to round out the roster.
Season 8 Games on the Road - April / May / June Due to Q2 Stadium not being finished, Austin FC played their first 8 matches in club history on the road. They lost their first match 2-0 against LAFC, but rallied to win their next 2 matches against the Colorado Rapids and Minnesota United FC 3-1 and 1-0 respectively. Midfielder Diego Fagundez scored the club's first goal in the 59th minute in Colorado, a match where Cecilio Dominguez notched the first brace in club history. After the quick start, Austin had an 8 game winless, streak, only earning 4 points during this period, all from draws.
First games in Austin - June / July Austin played their first home match on June 19, a 0-0 draw against the San Jose Earthquakes in front of a sellout crowd of 20,738. After a quick 2-0 loss in Minnesota, the club was home for their next 6 matches. After over a 200 minute home scoring drought, Jon Gallagher scored the first ever goal in Q2 Stadium in Austin's first home win, a 4-1 drubbing of the eventual Western Conference champion Portland Timbers. After losing 3 consecutive home games, they won their first ever Copa Tejas competition, a 3-2 win against the Dynamo where Tomás Pochettino scored his first MLS brace.
Austin FC also played their first ever international friendly, a 3-1 loss in Austin against Liga MX side Tigres UANL on July 13.
Reinforcements and Further Struggles - August / September Through the club's first 16 games, Austin only scored 13 goals. To kickstart their offense, they paid $1.65 million to sign Moussa Djitte from Grenoble and $7 million to sign Argentinian forward Sebastian Driussi from Zenit Saint Petersburg of the Russian Premier League. Driussi made his debut August 7 and scored his first goal in a 3-1 win against Portland on August 21. Despite nearly doubling their offensive output scoring 12 goals over a 7 game stretch, Austin had 1 win and 8 losses over 9 matches from August 7 to September 18 following Driussi's debut.
End of the Inaugural Season - October While only having 19 points through 25 matches, Austin FC was still technically in the playoff race come October. On September 26, homegrown player McKinze Gaines became the first Austinite to score a goal for the club in a 2-0 upset win against the LA Galaxy. Even though they won 4 of their last 5 home matches, their lone loss against Minnesota eliminated them from postseason play on October 16. Despite the loss, Austin FC still had 2 more Copa Tejas matches. They defeated the Dynamo 2-1 on October 24 and could have secured the Cup with a win in Frisco against FC Dallas. However, they lost the contest 2-1, conceding the Cup winning goal to Franco Jara in the 80th minute. Austin won their last home game of the season against Sporting Kansas City where Sebastian Driussi scored 30 seconds into the match, the fastest goal in the club's short history. Austin FC ended their inaugural season on November 7, a 3-0 loss to the Timbers in Portland.
Diego Fagundez tied for the team lead in both goals with Cecilio Dominguez (7) and assists with Sebastian Driussi (5). He was selected as the team's offensive player of the year, while GK Brad Stuver was selected as the team's defensive player of the year, respectively. Stuver led the MLS with 134 saves in 2021.
Management team Position Name Chairman Anthony Precourt Sporting director Claudio Reyna Head coach Josh Wolff Assistant coach Davy Arnaud
Roster
. No. Name Nationality Position(s) Date of birth (age) Signed in Previous club Apps Goals Goalkeepers 28 Brady Scott GK 2020 Nashville SC 0 0 31 Andrew Tarbell GK 2020 Columbus Crew SC 1 0 34 Will Pulisic GK 2021 Duke Blue Devils 0 0 41 Brad Stuver GK 2020 New York City FC 33 0 Defenders 3 Jhohan Romaña CB 2020 Guaraní 25 0 4 Aedan Stanley LB 2021 Duke Blue Devils 9 0 5 Matt Besler CB 2021 Sporting Kansas City 20 0 16 Hector Jiménez LB 2020 Columbus Crew SC 25 1 18 Julio Cascante CB 2020 Portland Timbers 31 2 19 Freddy Kleemann CB 2021 Washington Huskies 3 0 21 Žan Kolmanič LB 2021 Maribor 30 0 22 Ben Sweat LB 2020 Inter Miami CF 2 0 24 Nick Lima CB 2020 San Jose Earthquakes 28 0 Midfielders 2 Emanual Perez CM 2021 Portland Timbers 10 0 6 Sebastian Berhalter CM 2021 Columbus Crew SC 18 0 7 Tomás Pochettino (DP) CM 2021 Talleres 31 2 8 Alexander Ring (captain) CM 2020 New York City FC 31 4 10 Cecilio Domínguez (DP) MF 2020 Independiente 34 7 12 Ulises Segura LM 2020 D.C. United 0 0 14 Diego Fagúndez CAM 2021 New England Revolution 33 7 15 Daniel Pereira (GA) CAM 2021 Virginia Tech Hokies 25 0 20 Jared Stroud MF 2020 New York Red Bulls 22 1 33 Owen Wolff (HG) RM 2020 Austin FC Academy 2 0 Forward 9 Danny Hoesen FW 2020 San Jose Earthquakes 5 0 11 Rodney Redes FW 2020 Guaraní 25 0 13 Aaron Schoenfeld FW 2021 Minnesota United FC 0 0 17 Jon Gallagher FW 2020 Atlanta United FC 27 3 23 Kekuta Manneh FW 2021 New England Revolution 16 0 25 Sebastián Driussi (DP) FW 2021 Zenit Saint Petersburg 17 5 27 McKinze Gaines FW 2021 Hanover 96 9 1 99 Moussa Djitté (U22) FW 2021 Grenoble 13 1
Transfers In Date Position No. Name From Fee Ref. July 6, 2020 FW 11 Rodney Redes Guaraní $2,750,000 August 24, 2020 MF 10 Cecilio Domínguez Independiente $2,500,000 December 13, 2020DF18 Julio Cascante Portland Timbers$250,000 GAMDecember 13, 2020DF17 Jon Gallagher Atlanta United FC$225,000 GAMDecember 13, 2020DF24 Nick Lima San Jose Earthquakes$250,000 GAMDecember 13, 2020MF12 Ulises Segura D.C. United$150,000 GAMDecember 13, 2020DF22 Ben Sweat Inter Miami CF$100,000 GAM December 15, 2020 FW 9 Danny Hoesen San Jose Earthquakes Drafted December 15, 2020 MF 20 Jared Stroud Red Bull New York Drafted December 15, 2020 GK 28 Brady Scott Nashville SC Drafted December 15, 2020 MF — Joe Corona LA Galaxy Drafted December 15, 2020 DF — Kamal Miller Orlando City SC Drafted December 17, 2020 MF 8 Alexander Ring New York City FC $1,250,000 GAM December 21, 2020 DF 16 Hector Jiménez Columbus Crew Free December 22, 2020 DF 3 Jhohan Romaña Guaraní Undisclosed December 23, 2020 GK 31 Andrew Tarbell Columbus Crew Free December 28, 2020 GK 41 Brad Stuver New York City FC Free January 5, 2021 MF 14 Diego Fagúndez New England Revolution Free January 6, 2021 DF 5 Matt Besler Sporting Kansas City Free January 21, 2021 MF 15 Daniel Pereira Virginia Tech Hokies Drafted January 22, 2021 FW 23 Kekuta Manneh New England Revolution Free February 4, 2021 FW 13 Aaron Schoenfeld Minnesota United FC Free February 9, 2021 DF 19 Freddy Kleemann Washington Huskies Drafted February 11, 2021 MF 7 Tomás Pochettino Talleres $2,500,000 April 16, 2021 GK 34 Will Pulisic North Carolina FC U23 Free DF 4 Aedan Stanley Sporting Kansas City II Drafted June 30, 2021 FW 99 Moussa Djitté Grenoble Foot 38 $1,650,000 July 29, 2021 MF 25 Sebastián Driussi Zenit Saint Petersburg $7,000,000 September 9, 2021 MF 33 Owen Wolff Austin FC Academy Homegrown
Loan In No.Pos.PlayerLoaned fromStartEndSource 21 DF Žan Kolmanič NK Maribor March 3, 2021 December 31, 2021 6 MF Sebastian Berhalter Columbus Crew SC March 3, 2021 December 31, 2021 2 MF Emanuel Perez Portland Timbers April 26, 2021 December 31, 2021
Out Date Position No. Name To Fee Ref.December 15, 2020—— Kamal Miller Montreal Impact$225,000 GAMDecember 22, 2020–– Joe Corona Houston Dynamo FCDrafted November 10, 2021DF5 Matt BeslerRetired
Loan out
No.Pos.PlayerLoaned toStartEndSource — FW Rodney Redes Guaraní July 6, 2020 December 31, 2020 — MF Cecilio Domínguez Guaraní September 1, 2020 December 31, 2020 —DF Freddy Kleemann Birmingham LegionMay 14, 2021May 30, 2021—GK Brady Scott Memphis 901 FCMay 14, 2021End of season
MLS SuperDraft picks
Round Selection Player Position College Notes11 Daniel PereiraMFVirginia Tech111 Freddy KleemannDFWashingtonReceived pick from CF Montréal121 Aedan StanleyDFDukeReceived pick from FC Dallas via Colorado RapidsSigned with Sporting Kansas City II228 Daniel SteedmanFWVirginiaSigned with North Carolina FC355 Noah LawrenceGKOhio State
Non-competitive fixtures Preseason
Midseason
Competitive fixtures Major League Soccer regular season
Standings Western Conference
Overall
Matches
U.S. Open Cup The first three games of the 2021 MLS season were originally going to serve as the qualification for MLS teams to the 2021 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. After these games were played, U.S. Soccer canceled the 2021 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup due to COVID-19.
Qualification
Statistics Appearances and goals
Numbers after plus–sign (+) denote appearances as a substitute.
Top scorers {| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align: center;" |- !width=30|Rank !width=30|Position !width=30|Number !width=175|Name !width=75| !width=75| !width=75|Total |- |rowspan=2|1 |MF |14 |align="left"| |7 |0 |7
|FW |10 |align="left"| Cecilio Domínguez |7 |0 |7 |- |3 |FW |25 |align="left"| Sebastián Driussi |5 |0 |5 |- |4 |MF |8 |align="left"| Alexander Ring |4 |0 |4 |- |5 |FW |17 |align="left"| Jon Gallagher |3 |0 |3 |- |rowspan=2|6 |MF |7 |align="left"| Tomás Pochettino |2 |0 |2 |- |DF |18 |align="left"| Julio Cascante |2 |0 |2 |- |rowspan=4|8 |DF |16 |align="left"| Hector Jiménez |1 |0 |1
|FW |18 |align="left"| Moussa Djitté |1 |0 |1
|FW |18 |align="left"| McKinze Gaines |1 |0 |1 |- |FW |20 |align="left"| Jared Stroud |1 |0 |1 |- !colspan="4"|Total ! 34 ! 0 ! 34
Top assists {| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align: center;" |- !width=30|Rank !width=30|Position !width=30|Number !width=175|Name !width=75| !width=75| !width=75| !width=75|Total |- |rowspan=2|1 |FW |25 |align="left"| Sebastian Driussi |5 |0 |0 |5 |- |MF |14 |align="left"| Diego Fagundez |5 |0 |0 |5 |- |rowspan=3|3 |MF |10